The leaderships of Shia-dominated Kargil and Buddhist-dominated Leh district usually don’t have much in common. However, nowadays, the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) have joined hands. They are supporting one another for what is perceived by most of the leaders as the two conglomerates against common adversary, the central government. Right from 1947 to the present era, the two districts have existed as distinctly different regions, in ethos and in politics.
In the year 2002, such was the stranglehold of the Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA) that its front Ladakh Union Territory Front (LUTF) vetoed assembly elections in Leh. It virtually nominated Nawang Rigzin Jora as MLA from Leh and Sonam Norboo as MLA from Nubra and no candidate dared fill forms against them. Jora and Norboo were elected unopposed from the two seats of Leh district. Before that, Tsetan Namgyal of the National Conference (NC) had won from Nubra in 1996 and was a Minister of State (MoS) in Dr Farooq Abdullah’s ministry.
At the same time, Kargil district did not heed LUTF with Haji Nissar Ali winning from Kargil assembly segment as an independent and Mohammad Abbas of the National Conference (NC) winning from Zanskar. Nawang Rigzin Jora won three assembly elections on the trot with 2008 and 2014 rounds as a Congress candidate. The point sought to be made here is that politics played out differently in Kargil and Leh district in the past usually.
Demand for two MP seats
One of the main demands of those who are leading the agitation in Ladakh at present is regarding two Lok Sabha seats for the two districts. What it means is that Kargil district should have one MP and Leh another. Presently, Kargil and Leh district together elect one Lok Sabha MP. In most of the past Lok Sabha elections, the tussle has been between candidates of the two districts. Kargil district has almost always backed a Shia from the district while Leh gravitates towards a Buddhist.
The Leh Lok Sabha seat was allotted to the Congress in 2024 and a Leh Buddhist Tsering Namgyal became its candidate. The BJP fielded Tashi Gyalson, also from Leh district, another Buddhist like Namgyal. The Shia leadership of Kargil revolted against this decision of the National Conference (NC) to concede the seat to the Congress. In that election, Independent Mohmad Haneefa, someone who had lost the councillor election for Ladakh Autonomous Hill District Council (LAHDC).
In 2019, JT Namgyal of the BJP had won from Leh Lok Sabha seat. In 2014 also, the BJP had won the seat, but its candidate then was Thupstan Chhewang. Incidentally, Mr Chhewang is one of the leaders in the forefront of the present Ladakh agitation.
84th Constitutional Amendment
Under the 84th Constitutional amendment, passed during Atal Behari Vajpayee’s tenure as Prime Minister, enacted in 2001, the constitutional freeze on delimitation was extended. As such, the number of Lok Sabha seats cannot be increased. This was done until the first census after 2026, with the intention of not penalizing states that controlled their population growth. This amendment aimed to maintain the existing population-based representation in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies and was intended to allow population control measures to take effect without immediately impacting political representation.
As such, the increase in the number of Lok Sabha MPs in the Ladakh region, in isolation as being sought by Kargil and Leh leaders, is not possible. Much like the impractical demand for statehood with a legislature, the demand for two MPs also seems such that cannot be conceded.
Incidentally, a comparison with the neighbouring Union Territory (UT) of J&K makes interesting reading. In J&K, there are 20 districts and five Lok Sabha MPs, meaning thereby that there is one MP for four districts. In Himachal Pradesh, the number of districts is 12 and the number of Lok Sabha seats four. In Punjab, the number of districts is 23 and the number of Lok Sabha seats 13. The point being sought to be made here is that in these states, one Lok Sabha MP per district is not there. Goa is an exception to that rule with two Lok Sabha seats, one each for two districts. One for North Goa district and one for South Goa district. It has 40 MLAs though, which is 10 times more than that of Ladakh having four MLAs only.
Presently, there are 543 MPs in the Lok Sabha, far lesser than the total number of districts there are in the country. Since there is a freeze on their number in force from 2001 onwards, it is not possible to increase the number of MPs in Ladakh from one to two. Most Ladakhi leaders understand that well but may have adopted an unreasonable maximalist position before the Central government. The Central government is ready to create more districts in Ladakh and had already made an announcement regarding five new districts. If and when it happens, that will not change demographics of Ladakh. Nor will it change the 84th Constitutional Amendment under which fresh delimitation in isolation is not possible.
It seems to be a demand aimed at creating a glue of commonality between Kargil and Leh districts, the Shias of one districts and the Buddhists of the other. In the past, there were bitter fights between Kargil and Leh districts for the lone seat that is there. In 2014, Thupstan Chhewang, with the BJP then, could win the Leh Lok Sabha seat with a margin of only 36 votes. This narrow margin of victory indicates the bitter rivalry between Kargil and Leh districts.
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